Awakenings: A Moonlight short story
by Goodfella73
Summary: In events coinciding with "Moonlight: Purge," the second of the three-part series based on the television show, one of the most powerful vampires in existence begins his journey of vengeance and corrects a tragic mistake made sixty years ago.
1. Prologue

_####_

 _It doesn't matter to me what he is. I love him. I want to be with him even though he tells me it's impossible. I know our love can overcome any obstacle._

 _I want him to turn me into what he is. He says it's dangerous but I don't care. I'm not afraid. It's the only way we can be together forever._

 _I'm ready._

Sarah Whitley's final diary entry

####

 _ **I met her at Grand Central Station. We were both waiting for a train. She asked me for a light. I looked into her eyes and I knew that she was something special. I knew better than to get involved with a human. I knew it was a mistake, but I did it anyway. And for months, I thought I was keeping my secret from her, but then I discovered that she knew. She knew... And she didn't care.**_

 _ **That was the happiest day of my life.**_

 _ **I wasn't looking for it, believe me. The longer we were together, the more I began to think that the whole reason I became a vampire was... You know, so I could live long enough to meet her. It took me over three hundred and fifty years to find her, and only a year to lose her … Forever.**_

 _ **She's been begging me to for months. I didn't want to, but … She wouldn't let it go. She knew that was the only way we could be together, so I tried to turn her. I drained her, I fed her my blood, but it didn't work. She never came out of it.**_

 _ **She got lost somewhere in between.**_

 _Josef Kostan to Mick St. John & Beth Turner_

 _Moonlight, "Sleeping Beauty"_

####

 _ **Awakenings**_

 _ **A "Moonlight" short story**_

 _ **By Goodfella73**_

 _ **####**_

 _ **The characters originating with "Moonlight" are the property of Trevor Munson, Ron Koslow, and CBS Studios. Any and all characters created within this medium and other works are the property of this author and are not to be used in any other literary work without the expressed consent of this author. For entertainment purposes only.**_


	2. Chapter 1

_\- Chapter 1 -_

 _Several days ago …_

 _Paris_

The plane touched down on the runway and slowly made its way to the private hangar section. Several of the structures were opened, displaying airplanes of various makes and models as men and women enacted preventive maintenance.

One hangar, the largest in that particular section of the airport, sat closed. A limousine rested outside its huge hydraulic door. A blonde-haired woman wearing sunglasses, black blouse and skirt stood outside against the vehicle as she watched the airplane approach and come to a halt several feet away.

The boarding ramp opened and lowered to the ground and Lance disembarked. He stepped into solid ground and turned to help his sister Coraline descend from the plane. The woman straightened and walked over to the pair.

Lance smiled at the woman's approach. He bent down to place a kiss on her cheek. "Claudia. As usual, your timing is impeccable. I am very tired and would like to be taken to my loft immediately."

Claudia gave the vampire an apologetic smile. "I'm afraid that isn't possible at the moment, sir. Your presence has been requested."

Lance snarled at the woman but Claudia stood her ground, completely unfazed by the vampire's anger. Coraline stepped past her brother and queried, "Am I needed as well?"

Claudia turned her gaze to her and nodded.

"Most definitely."

#

The limousine pulled to a stop in front of _La Tour d'Argent_ restaurant. Claudia led the siblings inside and up the stairs to the third floor where a few workers milled about preparing the tables for the evening shift. A woman wiped down a grand piano perched on a circular stage in the center.

At the far side of the restaurant floor, a man stood alone with his hands in his pockets on an elevated dais facing a window that overlooked the River Seine. He did not acknowledge their approach by turning around as they made their way to where he was standing but began to speak as if to them.

"Right on time, Claudia. Thank you for bringing them here so quickly."

Lance smiled uneasily as Claudia sat down at a table to the side, leaving him and Coraline to stand alone. "Malcolm. I thought you would be in England."

The tall vampire slowly turned and smiled at the brother and sister for a second. He walked over and gently traced a finger along Coraline's cheek. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you where I just flew in from, Lance. London has been pretty much the same for the past fifty years. Unless it's important, you won't catch me there for longer than a day."

He shoved his hands back into his pockets as he finally faced Lance. "When I find a member of my line has been sent back here chained up like some type of farm animal, it intrigues me to a whole new level. So I would like to hear from _you_ personally … what happened."

"What I did was I attempted to clean up my sister's mess is all, Malcolm." Lance shot Coraline a withering glare. "Rest assured, everything will be straightened out very soon."

"How, Lance? Malcolm gestured in surprise. "Your head will be detached from your body if you so much as set foot in Los Angeles again. I heard about the threat made against you. No, my friend. I believe the role you've played in this has come to an end."

Malcolm held up a hand to forestall further comment from Lance as he turned to Coraline. "But despite your brother's failure, it seems he is correct. Your mess you created in 1952 is becoming a bigger headache than even I care to admit."

"Malcolm, everything would have been fine if Lance hadn't had Cynthia hire someone to download a list of the Los Angeles vampires from the Archivist and send it to the district attorney's office. You know how Josef Kostan is protective of what goes on there. A list like that would have exposed a few hundred of our kind."

Malcolm glanced over at Lance and chuckled. "I think you've been hanging around me too long."

He grew serious as he focused on Coraline. "Still, I could care less about what happens there as long as our hand is invisible. Lance already exposed us too much, but _you …_ you helped them in Detroit with the Archivist, you killed Cynthia -"

"Wait." Lance stepped closer. "Cynthia's dead?"

"Your sister took it upon herself to stab her in the chest with a stake coated with the compound. I had Claudia hack into the medical examiner's computer servers and pull the death certificate." Malcolm did not take his eyes off of Coraline as he spoke. "I recognize the components they found in her autopsy as part of the compound. It could have only been Coraline."

Lance's face twisted in rage. "If I remember correctly, sister, she saved you when you suffered a similar fate. Stabbed in the chest by a human, of all things. Cynthia, she saved you! Granted you the gift of immortality once again!"

His eyes grayed over as he stepped close. "And you repaid her by killing her," he snarled, hand outstretched for her throat.

Malcolm stepped between the two with the speed of a dancer, sending Lance backwards with a vicious backhand into a table and chairs on the lower level several feet away. The noise made several workers turn their heads to the direction of the vampires for a second before continuing on their business.

Coraline spun to face Malcolm who continued to glare down at Lance. "How do you know all this? We haven't seen or spoke with you in weeks."

He stood over Coraline, forcing her to look away. "I flew to Los Angeles a month ago on a separate matter, but I ended up having to clean up behind you two and claim Cynthia's body for burial. I also eliminated Talbot, the district attorney. That business with the list had run its course for far too long."

Malcolm casually strolled down to where Lance struggled to extract himself from the furniture. With one hand, he reached down to grasp him by the throat and snatched him high off the floor, carrying him past the tables before bodily slamming him onto the top of the piano. "You forget your place, young one," he snarled. "It is not _you_ who hands out punishment in this family. Not as long as blood runs through my veins."

Lance struggled to free himself from Malcolm's grasp to no avail. Finally he gasped, "Will - you punish _her_ \- this time?"

The anger on Malcolm's face gave way to puzzlement. He released him, allowing Lance to slide off of the piano. "You feel that she needs to be punished?"

"For the better part of six decades, she has wronged you and our family," said Lance. He straightened his clothes to regain some sort of dignity and composure. "Marrying St. John, then _turning him!_ Creating that compound! Aiding St. John and Kostan when it should have been _me_ to whom her aid should have been rendered!"

Lance pointed to Coraline as she turned to face the men. "St. John should have died that night she turned him human. I spared him in exchange for her compliance. To bring her back to you. And what happens? _Nothing!_ St. John continues to roam free, and she faced no consequence for her actions."

Malcolm looked down at his hands as he considered his words. Finally he looked up and smiled at Coraline. "My dear, he has a point. You went against everything this family has stood for by bringing that commoner in like a stray and turning him. And do you remember what he did to you? When he set you on fire? And yet you still go to him, even though you no longer hold a special place in his heart."

"Then I'll stay away from him forever!" Coraline pleaded with Malcolm but glanced at Lance as she said, "I came here in part to make sure Lance arrived safely. I'm almost not as welcomed as he is. There's nothing for me there anymore."

Malcolm walked over and held Coraline's face in both of his hands. He gazed down at her and kissed her on the forehead.

"My dear. It's too late."

#

Malcolm and Claudia went upstairs to the lavish apartment he owned on the top floor of the restaurant. He stood and waited as she opened the door and followed her inside into the living room. "I swear, if I wasn't immortal, those two would be the death of me," he said, lowering himself into his favorite leather chair pointing out towards a window overlooking the river.

Claudia stood over to the side and looked down at him. "Now I've known you and how you operate for the better part of two centuries. You swore you would never return to the U.S. But now I feel you're trying for two trips in a month. A record. Flight plan already filed?"

Malcolm chuckled. "Of course not. You've done an impeccable job of that since I bought the jet. Why change now? But since we're on the subject, take a seat so we can go over some things."

Once Claudia took a seat in a chair at a corner table, Malcolm leaned forward and handed her a folded piece of paper. "For weeks now I've been studying St. John and his friends in Los Angeles. Especially the cases he have been involved in. One stood out over the others. A case where he tried to administer medical aid to a district attorney who was shot. Despite St. John's efforts, he died from his wounds."

"If memory serves me correctly, he was a medic in World War II." Claudia took the paper. "What's odd about that?"

"What stood out was that the district attorney was prosecuting a case against a Mexican gang lord. Judging from the fact that his girlfriend at the time, who I surmised is now dating St. John, was also threatened, he ended up dead hours after the district attorney. I bet my fortune that St. John had a hand in that."

"Ah. _La trois étapes*._ Very well. I see where you are already going with this, Malcolm. I'll check into information pertaining to the case. It may take a while."

Malcolm smiled. "I've been monitoring Josef Kostan as well. The information I forwarded to John Whitley concerning where he could find him months ago did indeed ignite a fire inside the old man, no pun intended**. I only wanted to see if he could root Kostan out. Not attempt to turn him into a pile of ashes."

Malcolm rose from his seat and moved closer to the window as Claudia finally unfolded the sheet in her hand. "So I take it that you'll be traveling to New York first?"

He glanced over his shoulder at her and nodded. "Oh yes. That is where I'll start. I have someone to pick up first. And please make sure those I need are notified so they can join me."

"My brother will enjoy a trip abroad. Consider it done."

Malcolm returned his gaze back to the river and sighed. "I hate leaving this view behind. Especially when I just got back."

Claudia stood beside him. "Well, I'll make sure you're only gone for a few days. You'll be back before you know it."

"No." Malcolm shook his head. "Lance's scheme was not thought out and not well put together but … it had potential. The vampires there, they live amongst the humans trying to co-exist. But how can you co-exist while not exposing the better part of yourself? And St. John, his existence has bothered me for sixty years. He lives amongst them, he's supposedly _dating_ one! It vexes me, Claudia. No, I will stay as long as it takes until I ensure the destruction of Mick St. John."

Claudia nodded and took her leave as Malcolm returned his attention to the view.

#

As Malcolm Rehnquist's personal assistant and most loyal and trusted advisor, Claudia Oxford knows exactly how he likes things prepared. Being the one constant in his life for more than two hundred years, experience was on her side.

So when Malcolm arrived at the hangar the next morning, he was not at all surprised that everything on the list he had given her was accomplished with her usual efficiency. She herself stood by the boarding ramp with her computer tablet in one hand and a thermos in the other. "Good morning, Malcolm. Your chariot awaits."

"Good morning, my dear." He gave her a kiss on the cheek and then the jet a cursory once over. "Are we good to go?"

"Flight plan has been filed with the tower. The pilot has been instructed to play it by ear with you once you arrive in New York, but I did tell him to make sure he has a plan set up for Los Angeles once you conclude your business." She handed him the tablet. "And I also found the man you need for your little experiment. His file is in your private folder."

"Excellent." He looked down at the thermos in her hand. "Breakfast?"

"B positive. It was a good night last night."

Malcolm accepted the container and opened it. The aroma hit his senses and he closed his eyes. "Claudia, you never cease to amaze me," he said.

She smiled up at him, her demeanor for an instant turning to one of glee. Malcolm caught it and it saddened him on the inside.

"It makes what I have to tell you that much harder."

The smile slowly disappeared from her face as Claudia search Malcolm's for an explanation. He stared back in silence until finally she looked down and nodded. "You want me to stay here."

"It's a shame I trust someone outside of my bloodline with my life more than I do those within. I don't expect Coraline to be a problem but I had the same expectation of Lance. You obviously see where we are now."

Anger flashed across Claudia's face as she realized the reason for her being left behind. If it was anyone else, Malcolm would have instantly reprimanded anyone if his orders were not followed.

Claudia was not anyone else. Her complete loyalty was to him and it was merely a disappointment that she could not continue to demonstrate her fealty. She quickly composed herself and nodded. "If you need me to watch them, I'll watch them."

"That's not all. On my desk, I left some information I need you to research and get back to me with before I venture close to Los Angeles."

Claudia nodded. "I'll make sure you have it before you leave New York."

Malcolm pulled her close into an embrace. She returned it enthusiastically. "I knew I can count on you, my dear."

#

 _New York_

Malcolm sat in a chair that was somewhat small for his tall frame as he waited in a spare bedroom. With a small outdoor balcony pointing to the exterior wall of the dwelling next door, his options was extremely limited.

He _hated_ not having a view.

The ticking of his Rolex grew increasingly loud with his vampire hearing, which only added to his frustration. He already knew it was nearly 1 PM eastern standard time. Despite the length of the flight and drive to their destination, he hardly made a dent in the day timewise just due to crossing a few time zones.

His annoyance was almost instantly forgotten when David walked in. A slender blonde, he looked and dressed as if he should be gracing the covers of a fashion magazine, qualities Malcolm rarely pays attention to provided his affairs were taken care of first and foremost.

With David, he knew he had no need to fear due to the diligence and professionalism he gives when accomplishing his tasks. Qualities equaled to that of his twin sister, Claudia.

"Everything is prepared, Malcolm. The nurse is subdued downstairs in the basement. We're just waiting on the doctor."

"Unharmed?"

"Unconscious, but unharmed."

Malcolm rose and reached for his jacket. "Does the residence have adequate cooler facilities? I want us all rested when it's time to leave."

"It does." David waited until Malcolm shrugged his overcoat on before moving out into the hallway. "I already have Grayson resting. Lucas is bringing some things from the jet."

Malcolm clapped his hand on the shorter vampire's shoulder. "My friend, I would not know what to do if it wasn't for you and your sister," he said as he stepped past.

The two stepped outside into the bright afternoon sun. David withdrew a pair of sunglasses from a jacket pocket and covered his eyes while Malcolm tilted his head to stare into the sky as if the brightness did not affect him.

They quickly crossed the street and skipped past several apartment buildings until they came to one with elaborate French doors marking the entrance. A small, bespectacled man with tousled brown hair, carrying a medical bag stood out front of the residence, staring at them nervously.

Malcolm held out his hand. "Doctor Ian Ellis?"

Ellis looked from Malcolm to David and back again before slowly grasping the outstretched hand. "I am. I assume you are the one who called me?"

"Malcolm Rehnquist. Thank you for meeting with me." Malcolm released Ellis' hand. "I know this is a little unorthodox but time is of the essence and I simply can't afford to waste much time with this. Other matters need my attention."

David held out a zippered money bag. "That is $20,000 just to speak with me, Doctor," said Malcolm. "I know my assistant offered you half that amount over the phone, but as I said, time is of the essence and I need your full attention."

The doctor looked down at the bag in David's hand as if he was holding the rarest of diamonds. "You have it, Mr. Rehnquist," he said, nodding vigorously.

Malcolm smiled and gestured for Ellis to take the bag. "Then let's take this conversation inside, if you don't mind."

Ellis slid the bag under his arm. "What is this place?" He indicated the brownstone they stood in front of.

Malcolm walked up the steps and opened the door. He inhaled and could detect a decadent musk he was not familiar with. "Doctor, this is 301 Waverly Place. The home of the subject of our conversation."

#

David led the way upstairs with Malcolm and Dr. Ellis following not far behind. "You have been a leading expert in hematology for more than a quarter century, correct?" asked Malcolm.

"I would consider myself as such if others had faith in my work." Despite the disdain in his tone, Ellis swelled slightly with pride. "Until then, consider me as someone who can readily answer your questions with confidence."

The three stopped at a closed set of double doors. David turned to Malcolm and asked, "Will you be needing anything else, sir?"

"No, David. Just be sure you go and see to that package in the basement, will you?" He gave David a subtle wink.

David grinned and retreated to the stairs as Malcolm faced Ellis. "Doctor, I have plenty of questions for you. But once I show you the reason why we're here, you will no doubt have questions for me."

Ellis glanced past Malcolm at the doors behind him. "Then let's see what we have and we'll go from there, sir," he said, the eagerness in his tone highly evident.

"Your enthusiasm is appreciated." Malcolm smiled as he turned and opened the doors. "I hope it holds true."

Ellis stepped into what he perceived to be a master bedroom based on its size. A fireplace with two velvet covered chairs rested along the far wall. Before it sat a king-size bed of an antique setting surrounded by the more modern styles of hospital equipment and monitors.

In the middle of the bed under the covers, dressed in a laced embroidered nightgown, rested a beautiful young woman with auburn-colored curly hair. Her head, resting on several plush pillows, was turned facing the door in the direction of the new arrivals, but her eyes remained closed. The rhythmic beeping of one machine recorded the slow, irregular beating of her heart.

Ellis tentatively stepped into the bedroom, pausing only to look back at Malcolm who nodded permission to continue forward. The doctor walked over and leaned in to examine the sleeping woman more closely.

"Her name is Sarah Whitley, Doctor." Malcolm closed the doors behind him as Ellis placed his fingertips against her wrist. "She is the only daughter of a real estate developer here in the city."

Ellis straightened and turned back to Malcolm. "Did she suffer some type recent form of trauma? If so, whoever is maintaining her care is doing an extraordinary job. Though I don't approve of home care."

Malcolm started to speak but paused, as if struggling with how he was going to proceed further. He lowered his eyes to the floor. "What I am about to tell you will be … unbelievable, Doctor. You will call me a liar. A clown. Any name that comes to your head to help you not believe my words until I will be forced to prove myself."

His gaze lifted to lock onto Ellis' eyes. "If you believe anything I tell you, believe me when I say … you do not want that."

Ellis swallowed nervously as he glanced back at Sarah's still form in the center of the bed, clearly more intrigued in her condition at the moment. He placed his medical bag and money satchel at the foot of the bed and took off his jacket before looking back at Malcolm.

"I am open to reason."

Malcolm held Ellis' gaze for a second longer before nodding. "Very well." He took a seat in a chair close by the door. Ellis remained where he stood by the bed.

"How old does Sarah look to you?"

Ellis gazed down at the woman again and pursed his lips in thought. "Based on her skin texture, if I had to surmise a guess, I would say … twenty-three?"

"You're good." Malcolm nodded solemnly. "Sarah celebrated her twenty-second birthday … over sixty years ago."

Malcolm's casual finish did not dawn on Ellis at first. The smile slowly disappeared from his face as he took in the seriousness in Malcolm's countenance. He turned to stare at Sarah again, this time unsure of what he was looking at or for.

"Doctor, what have you heard about vampirism?"

Ellis paused in his examination as he considered the question. "Only what I've seen in movies and read in books. Anne Rice, Stroker, Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

Malcolm snickered. "I imagined your knowledge would be limited to television and special effects. Understandable. Well, decades ago - in 1955, to be exact - Sarah met a man by the name of Charles Fitzgerald, who portrayed himself as a businessman. It was nearly a year before she realized that he was really a vampire who at the time was over three hundred and fifty years old."

Ellis stared at Malcolm incredulously for a handful of seconds before pointing to Sarah. "And she's one as well?" he whispered.

"She is … something else." Malcolm rose and walked over to the foot of the bed. "I don't know the whole story but from what I could ascertain, Fitzgerald attempted to turn her. Somewhere, something went tragically wrong. She's been like this ever since. I want you to see if you can reanimate her."

"I see." Ellis walked around Malcolm and checked the readings on one of the monitors. "Where is this Fitzgerald now?"

"He lives in California under the name Josef Kostan, and from there he has cared for this woman ever since." Malcolm watched as Ellis leaned forward to brush a lock of Sarah's hair to the side. "He owns this property."

Ellis nodded absently. "The venom vampires secretes to start the transformation process. A whole list of things could have happen and without Fitzgerald, or Kostan here to examine, it will be hard to determine what went wrong."

He circled around Malcolm again and opened his medical bag. "I have a theory but I need to take a sample of her blood to examine. I don't know much about … how it's done, but if I'm right, the process _could_ be reversed."

Ellis held up a syringe and vacuum tube for Malcolm to see. "With your permission?"

Malcolm nodded and watched as Ellis applied a tourniquet and quickly found a vein. He moved away from the bed to the bay doors. "I have to admit, you're taking this better than I thought, Doctor."

"The threat against my life is pretty unnerving," said Ellis as the blood flowed into the tube. "But one thing I always like is a mystery. I like solving puzzles. Riddles. Breaking a problem down to the most common denominator."

The tube filled to capacity and Ellis pulled it free from the syringe. He held it up to the light and stared at it in awe. "For me, a chance to reanimate a vampire after a sixty-year long sleep … it trumps a death threat. I could be holding the key in my hand right now."

"Very well." Malcolm gestured to Ellis' belongings. "David will take you to your lab to do your research and when you're ready, he'll bring you back here."

As if on cue, the bedroom doors open and David stood waiting patiently in the hall. Ellis looked over at him and then Malcolm. "I never bothered to ask. Are you all … vampires, too?"

Malcolm indicated the door.

"Time is of the essence, Doctor."

###

* Translates from French to English as "The Three Stages."

** In the episode, "Sleeping Beauty," John Whitley hired an Army Ranger to kill Josef Kostan, stressing that fire would need to be used while not telling him that Kostan was a vampire.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

David opened the door to the limousine and peered inside at its lone occupant. "I will be leaving Lucas with you, Doctor. He has basic knowledge of laboratory protocols but has been instructed to stay out of your way. When you're finished, he'll make arrangements to bring you back to Waverly Place."

Ellis exited the vehicle and gasped at the size of the muscle packed in black trousers and leather jacket standing behind David. He shakingly pointed at him as he asked haltingly, "He - he knows h- his way around a - lab?"

#

Ellis applied a droplet of blood onto a microscope slide. He slid it under the lens and adjusted the machine to the best possible setting.

For two hours he compared Sarah's blood with findings he had researched and cataloged over the years, and seeing different results each and every time. Different forms of diseases, changes of season, temperature, everything he could have thought of that could have factored into Sarah's delayed transformation bore no fruit.

The one thing different, the only thing, was the dominant platelet in the blood itself. Ellis looked at that closely for another hour until he decided to test it.

A white mouse, one of nearly three dozen on hand for experiments, was the test subject. Using a small needle, he injected the mouse with a very small amount of Sarah's blood and quickly enclosed it in a plexiglass case. Ellis snapped the lock on the case and backed away as if he expected the cade to explode in front of him.

The result he recorded was _not_ expected.

#

Malcolm sat in the bedroom maintaining a watch over Sarah. The woman continued her endless sleep, the beeping monitors the only disruption in the silence.

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a simple silver ring, sized to fit a woman's slender finger. It slipped on his end finger as he held it up in the light, remembering a time long ago.

Remembering a love long ago…

#

 _Paris_

 _1782_

 _His eyes were drawn to her as she walked through the rose garden on the palace grounds in the company of several maidens of the court. The women were all beautiful, but it was her smile that set her apart from the others. Her brown curls hung just over her shoulders, moving slightly as she used small shears to clip the flowers and carefully placed them in a basket slung around her arm._

 _The other maidens laughed and talked amongst themselves. She smiled at her companions but felt other eyes upon her. She tilted her head up to the large library window where he stood watching her. She smiled again and waved up to him. He returned the smile with one of his own, careful not to expose his vampire fangs._

 _A court herald approached with a request to follow. He reluctantly turned away from the window and focused on pressing matters: his audience with his distant cousin and the ruler of France, Louis the XVI._

 _#_

"The mouse was injected with Sarah's blood. Just enough to monitor for reaction. For someone like me, it couldn't have done anything, but to a seven ounce mouse … the results would be mind-blowing."

Sitting by the large window in a leather chair, Malcolm listened intently as Ellis paced the floor of Sarah's bedroom, regaling him with his findings. "And, uh … what were those results, Doctor?"

Ellis produced a printout from his jacket and excitedly thrusted it out to him. Malcolm closed the first edition of _The Count of Monté Cristo_ resting in his lap and scanned over it carefully. The medical terminology he read was foreign to him even after centuries of experience.

But one word stood out. His eyes blinked in surprise as he looked up at Ellis. "She has some sort of disease?"

" _Had,_ sir. If she still has anything after all these years, I'd be very surprised." Ellis fell rather than sat down in a similar chair across from Malcolm. "I examined the blood sample I obtained from Sarah for a long time until I identified what I believe is the vampire gene. The gene that gives you your strengths."

Just as quickly as he sat down, Ellis rose to his feet and once again began to pace back and forth. "I expected the mouse to tear my lab apart when I injected it with Sarah's blood, which was why I put it in a reinforced cage. But guess what? I then realized I had treated that particular batch of mice I pulled it from with a cancerous gene days ago. The vampire gene went through all the minor impurities that the mouse possessed just like that!"

"But when it got to the cancer strain, it began attacking it, but more slowly. Methodically. All the while it's doing all this at the same time placing the mouse in a near comatose state. Just like Sarah. Except

Malcolm sat back in his seat and reflected on what Ellis had just told him. "You said that the vampire gene was attacking your cancer strain. It should have wiped it out of the girl after sixty years."

"Depends on the type of cancer it is, Mr. Rehnquist. It's hard to determine being as that it manifested sixty years ago. But … I have a theory. A complete blood transfusion. Replace her blood with fresh O positive and go from there. Completely flush out the remaining impurities while rejuvenating her with fresh plasma."

"Which you have an ample supply of, I assume."

"Of course. But I must be frank with you. I don't know what the results will turn out to be in her current condition, but if there was some sort of way to reverse the vampire process and turn her human before the transfusion, I would feel much better."

Malcolm raised one eyebrow. After a minute of consideration, he reached in his jacket and withdrew a small, metal case the size of a cigarette pack. He held it out in the palm of his hand to Ellis who looked at it with uncertainty. "What is this?"

"A member of my family did the unthinkable months ago and had this compound created. She called it "The Mortal Cure."

Ellis picked the case up and opened it carefully to peer at the jelly-like contents. "And what does it do?"

"It reverts vampires into humans. Everything that makes us great, taken away just like that."

The uncertainty gave way to rapt interest. "A substance to take away the powers of a vampire. Created _by_ a vampire," he breathed. "Is it a permanent solution?"

"I don't know. The only two I know of who used it were returned back to vampires as a result of a sire." Malcolm smiled. "Smear a small amount in an open cut. I believe it will do the job."

"Excellent." Ellis rose from his seat with the case in hand. "I'll go ahead and get started on the transfusion. Shouldn't take more than a few hours."

They both rose from their seats. Ellis smiled before turning his attention to Sarah while Malcolm exited the bedroom. He went downstairs, stopping in the foyer at the front door. "David?"

From seemingly out of nowhere, David appeared. He produced a tablet and held it out to Malcolm. "Claudia is online."

Malcolm took it and smiled at the image of his assistant on the screen. "I hope your brother didn't bore you while you were waiting on me, my dear."

"Oh, David was just regaling me with stories about how the scum whores over there are less refined than our ladies here in Paris. I would watch him tonight if I were you. He might bring something on the plane you can't get rid of."

They both laughed briefly before Malcolm grew serious. "What do you have?"

"I have the case file on Gemma Tejada. Everything from his alleged dealings with MS-13 up to where he was about to be indicted. Also have the initial investigation into the district attorney's death, and something else that hit the wire. A FBI agent is looking into Benjamin Talbot's death as well."

"Really. Well, did he find anything?"

" _She._ And no. However, I can tell you this. She interviewed three people just a few hours ago. One of them was Mick St. John."

Malcolm's eyebrows raised. "He's not accused of killing him, was he? To my understanding, the history between St. John and Talbot was very brief, but verging on the level of contentious."

"No. It was due to more district attorneys being murdered there than gang members this year. They were in and out after a few hours. How are things there?"

"We may be able to accomplish what we set out to do here. Kostan will have much to worry about when we get to Los Angeles. And speaking of cesspools, are the city's favorite tourists behaving themselves?"

Claudia's face slightly twisted in disgust. "Barely. Coraline has returned to her apartment. I have her under surveillance."

"And Lance?"

She rolled her eyes. "Being his usual brooding self. But manageable. I emailed you Tejada's file."

"Thank you, Claudia." He looked at his watch and noted the lateness of the hour. "Dr. Ellis should be finished in a couple of hours so I hope to be in California by this time tomorrow."

"Excellent. I'll keep in touch." She smiled before disconnecting the link.

#

Ellis slowly opened his eyes as the alarm on his phone began beeping louder. He looked around the bedroom for a minute until he realized it was in his shirt pocket.

Grinning sheepishly, he took it out and turned the alarm off. Noting the time while rising from the chair he dozed off in two hours before, he slipped the cell back in his pocket while reaching for a stethoscope.

He held it against Sarah's chest and wrist for several seconds. Nodding with satisfaction, he looked up at a monitor gauging her temperature readings.

"96.4 degrees. That is a fourteen degree jump in two hours," he said. "My theory must have been correct."

"Success, Doctor?"

The voice over Ellis' shoulder nearly made him jump. He forced himself calm and slowly turned his head. "I believe we're about there. Care to step closer?"

Malcolm stood beside Ellis as they looked down at Sarah. The woman still slumbered in the bed but now with now with the appearance of someone in a relaxed sleep, and with more color in her skin, notably her cheeks.

"Her heartbeat is stronger than it was before we started. I'd say close to sixty beats a minute. Temperature should be normal in another hour. But there's something else I need to try."

Ellis leaned in and snapped his fingers close to Sarah's left ear. She didn't open her eyes, but her head turned slightly in the direction of and in response to the sound.

"Sarah is responding to stimuli almost like a comatose patient. Unfortunately, she's still under the effects of whatever had placed her in this state, but the transfusion, combined with the compound you gave me to transform her back to human status ... it's as if she was just born."

"You mean _reborn,_ Doctor. Reborn."

Ellis looked over his shoulder at Malcolm and smiled. "Ah. Yes." He placed the stethoscope against Sarah's chest while his eyes focused on a monitor beside the bed.

"If she progresses like this, I really don't see why we shouldn't have a beautiful, healthy human woman awake and alert in a few hours."

Malcolm smiled as he walked around the bed until he stood opposite of Ellis. "Beautiful? Yes. Healthy? That is the reason why we're here."

Ellis continued his examination until an unimaginable realization dawned on him. He slowly straightened and stared uneasily across the bed at the other man. "I take it the end result I envisioned for this young - excuse me, this _woman …_ isn't the one you have."

Malcolm did not answer as suddenly Sarah's head began turning from side to side furiously. Both men watched as her eyelids opened and closed several times while her lips struggled to form words. Her arms began thrashing in the air, nearly pulling the insulin drip line from her left limb. Dr. Ellis caught and held it down before she could do any damage, checking the monitor beside the bed.

"Her blood pressure is dropping!" He knelt down and reached over into a metal cabinet. "I need your help to switch the insulin out with this now!"

Malcolm rushed over and gingerly caught a clear fluid bag tossed to him. He carefully hung it on the hook beside the bed and ran the tubing down to Ellis who connected it into the line running into Sarah's arm. "What is this?"

Ellis hurriedly connected and straightened the line while continuing to hold down the arm. "I figured this would happen, so I brought something extra along. A diluted form of adrenaline. Because her heart was at a near standstill for six decades, any type of drug introduced into her system combined with that compound you gave me would have definitely put her in some type of shock. This little cocktail I whipped up will be introduced to her heart at a moderate rate through her bloodstream instead of the standard injection through her chest, which could possibly cause cardiac arrest."

Sarah was beginning to settle down while Ellis spoke. Her head slowly eased back onto the pillow and her body relaxed. Ellis released her arm which remained still beside her body.

Malcolm shook his head in amazement. "Impressive, Doctor. Simply amazing."

Ellis eyed the monitors and breathed a sigh of relief. "Her vitals are stabilizing. Temperature is continuing to rise. I would say she should be out of the woods in about an hour or so."

He turned to face Malcolm and gestured to the door. "Now, Mr. Rehnquist. I'm very interested in hearing about what you have planned for my patient."

#

 _Los Angeles_

"I apologize for having to move our little night out to the penthouse." Josef Kostan handed Simone Walker a champagne flute. "I just couldn't take the smell of baby diapers and Similac any more at the mansion."

Simone took a sip of her drink and laughed as she ran a finger across the seam of his jacket. "You say all bad stuff about Leni and Jack, but I think I know you better, Josef. On the outside I see this tough exterior. This heartless, steeled individual, ready to stomp souls out with the heel of his thousand dollar Italian loafers -"

Josef grasped her hand along with the lapel of his jacket and held it out close to her face. "Do you smell that? I think baby powder got into my clothes."

Simone sniffed his jacket and shook her head no. " _But_ underneath this _masculine,_ rigid package before me is a kindhearted, passionate vessel of a man who is a savior to a young woman and her three-month-old son when they had no one else."

"Oh no." Josef backed away and turned to grab himself a glass of champagne. "They have Mick."

"Whose place was first raided by this Lance character, and then by the police. They had nowhere to go, even if everyone was after Mick and not them." Simone walked over to where Josef stood and poked his chest. "Face it, Josef. You have a heart."

Josed waved a finger playfully in her face. "Now now, Miss Walker. You tell anyone and I just might have to fire you."

Simone laughed again as she stepped away and walked over to the circular table on the opposite side of the office. She looked down at a calendar of events on top of a stack of folders resting in one of the chairs. "So is everything straight with Hurst after Dominic Michaels' murder?"

"There was really no problem, especially after your exoneration." Josef drained his glass and reached for the carafe filled with plasma. "Though I believe the president looked at me funny when I brought you in to represent Emma Monaghan that one day. But I think the nice donation for the administration offices' renovations took care of that."

Simone sat down at the table and pulled the calendar from the chair while Josef finished his drink. "There's something that has been bugging me since you hired my office to put together the fundraising campaign for the new coliseum on campus."

"Oh?" Josef eased behind her and pulled her jacket down past her shoulders to expose the curvature of her neck. "What is it?"

"Settle down, boy." She reached for his hand and pulled him towards an empty chair beside her. He groaned but complied. Once he was settled, Simone slid the calendar on the table in front of him.

"Who is Sarah Whitley?"

Josef groaned again and began to pull away but Simone held his hand firm. "You ponied up a lot of money for Hurst's new basketball arena and had it named after … a ghost. I couldn't find any information on her here in California while I was negotiating the naming rights - Josef, I couldn't even find a damned obituary! The only thing I found was a New York birth certificate for a woman who was born in the 1930's."

She pointed at the calendar displaying the name of the arena. "The night of Dominic's murder, several faculty members asked me who was she because she wasn't a student, an athlete, or a former professor.* They said there was no record of her in their archives."

At that, Josef leaned close. "Why didn't you tell me? And what _did_ you tell them?"

Sarah leaned close in kind to where their foreheads almost touched. "I _was_ being charged with murder at the time, in case you forgot," she answered wryly, "And don't worry. I told them that she was a dear friend of yours who had passed away years ago, and it was a fitting way to memorialize her."

Josef sat in silence as he leaned back and eyed Simone. Finally he rose and walked over to his desk and opened a side drawer. "Remember when I sort of … _died?"_

Simone nodded _. "_ I went to New York because the man who tried to kill me was hired by the father of the one woman I tried to turn."

Simone was taken back at this revelation. " _Tried_ to turn?"

Josef removed something from the drawer and walked back to his seat, reaching for Simone's hand. "The first human woman I ever loved. The first one who accepted not only _who_ I was, but _what._ I gave this to her on that day."

He dropped two items into her outstretched hand. She looked down and saw one was a small, gold locket attached to a thin chain. It rested on top of a wrinkled, wallet-size black and white photograph of a woman smiling while holding a rose in what appeared to be a garden.

"Josef," she said. "She's beautiful."

Josef smiled.

"Yes. She is."

Simone pulled her eyes from the locket to Josef, giving him a puzzled look.

" _Is?"_

####

 _*In the episode, "Sonata," Hurst College opened a basketball arena named after Sarah Whitley._


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ellis led the way into the bedroom. "I understand what you're saying, Mr, Rehnquist," he said over his shoulder. "But I believe we should ultimately let -"

He fell silent as he came to a sudden halt three steps inside. The stop nearly caused Malcolm to collide with him as he was directly behind the doctor. Puzzled, Malcolm stepped past into the bedroom for a clearer view and gaped at the scene before him.

The bed laid empty. The comforter and sheets were strewn across its surface. Lines running from the adrenaline bag they had hung up nearly an hour prior sat on top of the disorderly mess unattached.

A feminine voice responded. "Is someone there?"

Malcolm and Dr. Ellis watched as Sarah slowly stepped into view from where the window sat around the corner of the room. She was still in her full-length gown, her curly tresses bouncing slightly with each step her bare feet took against the hardwood floor.

Ellis and Malcolm exchanged a silent look before slowly stepping forward. "Miss Whitley. I must say, this is surely a miracle beyond words," said the doctor.

Malcolm noted the color in her face accentuated her beauty, as reflected in her hazel-colored irises. "I believe it is, Doctor."

Sarah gave them a cursory once over as she took a step forward. "I'm sorry, but I don't know either one of you. What are you doing in Charles' bedroom?"

Malcolm quickly stepped to the white wardrobe closet situated by the bedroom door and removed a pair of slippers and a silk robe from a hook on the inside. "My dear, I'll be more than happy to explain everything," he said as he set the shoes on the floor in front of her and held the robe for her to put on. "Believe me, it will take a minute to sink in."

"Yes, Miss Whitley." Ellis circled around and gestured to one of the chairs in front of the fireplace. "It will be best if you sat down."

Sarah looked from one man to the other with puzzlement growing in her countenance. She moved over to Malcolm who helped her shrug into her robe and slipped her feet into the shoes before walking over to the chair Ellis offered her. "I don't mean to be rude, but I really need to speak with Charles," she said pulled the robe tightly around herself in an uncomfortable gesture.

Malcolm nodded as he and Ellis stood by the end of the bed, but not too close to make her feel threatened. "My name is Malcolm Rehnquist, Sarah. This is Dr. Ian Ellis."

Sarah sat up straight in her chair as she glared at Ellis. "A doctor? Then you did this to me!" She gestured past them to the monitoring equipment staged beside the bed. "I fell asleep - in a situation I cannot possibly explain to you, and wake up with equipment I've never seen before all around me and needles in my arms! Charles is always by my side when I wake up, and today of all days he isn't! Now I want to talk to Charles and I want to talk to him _now!"_

Malcolm held his hands up in a placating gesture. "Sarah, please calm down. If you give us a few minutes to explain, I'm sure we'll be able to clear up everything for you. I just need you to remain calm because it will come as a shock to you."

Taking her silence as a welcoming sign, Malcolm crossed his hands in front of him. "I know that you and Charles met while you were waiting on a train. You fell in love. I'm sure that he felt for you the same way that you felt for him."

"Even after you discovered that he was a vampire."

Sarah gasped at the revelation. Her hand clutched the top of her robe as she whispered, "How do you know?"

"I make it a habit to know things about certain individuals who catch my eye. Your Charles is one of them. He has a … carefree attitude about him, for lack of a better way to describe it. So I studied him. That's how I found out about you, Miss Whitley."

Sarah shifted her eyes over to Ellis who remained silent, so she looked back over at Malcolm. "So … are you a friend of Charles?"

"No. We run in different circles. But in a few days, I'll make sure that you'll see each other again."

"What are you talking about? A few days?" Exasperated, Sarah rolled her eyes in mock surprise. "Leave it to Charles to have me here by myself at the turning point of both of our lives. Where is he?"

Ellis glanced over at Malcolm, expecting him to deflect the question. So it surprised him when Malcolm said, "He lives in Los Angeles now."

Sarah rolled her eyes again. "Well, what is he doing there? And why didn't he tell me he was moving there last night?"

Malcolm leaned a little closer now, sensing that he gained a measure of trust from the woman. "Sarah, this will be hard to accept," he said gently. "You may think everything happened last night, but the thing of it is you have been in a coma like state for over sixty years."

Sarah's mouth fell open in shock. She shook her head furiously as she rose to her feet. "No. It's impossible. I - I saw Charles yesterday. He turned me. We were going to be together for eternity. Eternity, Mr. Rehnquist! I couldn't have been asleep for sixty years!"

She fell back into her chair and bent over to bury her face in her hands. Malcolm pulled a handkerchief from his jacket and stretched to place it in her lap. "I afraid it's true, Sarah. Something went wrong that night, and Charles kept you here in this house under the care of nurses and health providers all this time."

"It's true, Miss Whitley." Ellis spoke up, hoping his findings would help the woman see the truth in his words. "When I first saw you, I didn't believe it myself. I'm a hematologist. I took a sample of your blood and did a full work up in an attempt to find out why the transformation never completely take. Were you sick in the weeks leading up to that night?"

Sarah slowly raised her head to look at the doctor. "I - I was feeling tired for a few weeks. I actually had an appointment with a doctor scheduled the following day."

She looked down at her hands as she whispered, "So … I'm - not a vampire?"

Ellis shook his head. "You had some sort of virus. Something was affecting your body so that it took the vampire venom a very long time to eradicate. Somehow it did do part of its job in preserving you, but it slowed the process to a crawl."

Pacing as he did in the middle of an explanation, Ellis stated, "I had no idea if at the end of the procedure if you would wake on your own, so what I did was replace your plasma, which still had impurities from you as the living host, plus the vampire venom from your … sire. It was a risky theory to follow, but the process reanimated you back to human form. Physically, you should be over eighty now."

"Eighty." Sarah sighed and rose to her feet, catching the handkerchief before it fell to the floor. She turned around to look in a mirror hanging over the fireplace. A hand reached up to her face as she whispered, "I lost sixty years of my life and yet I haven't aged a day. My friends. My family. They all must think the worst. Or dead."

"That's not entirely true," said Ellis. "Your father is still alive."

Sarah spun around to face them. "He is?"

"Yes, he is." Ellis shot a nervous glance at Malcolm before continuing. "I needed access to your medical records. I had trouble finding them which I believe was due to your previous state, so I looked for your parents' records, since theirs would be more accessible. Your father is very ill and is bedridden, but has a live-in physician in what I believe is the same home where you grew up."

"My father," whispered Sarah. She turned back around to take in her vestige in the mirror. "I have to see him."

"And you will, my dear." Malcolm buttoned his jacket, shooting a look at Ellis as he did so. "First, I would like Dr. Ellis to examine you from head to toe. We want to make sure you are completely healthy. And then get you in suitable attire. I already took the liberty of purchasing some clothes for you that I hope are to your liking. I know you may have some personal preferences which we will let yourself acknowledge at your leisure later, but it was a necessity this first time to ensure that you fit in 2016 and not 1955."

Turning to face him again, Sarah's eyes diverted to her hands wringing the handkerchief Malcolm had given her. "I'm sorry, Sarah," he said, walking over and laying a hand on her shoulder. "I should be a bit more … sympathetic to your situation. Like I told you, it will be hard to accept, but the sooner you do, the better off you will be. Trust me."

#

Malcolm went downstairs and walked into the living room where David stood waiting in front of a fireplace with a folder in hand. "I finished going over the file Claudia emailed to you concerning the investigation in Los Angeles. Turns out there may be a few new players you need to be made aware of."

"That never bodes well when I already set a plan in motion." Malcolm took the proffered folder and opened it as he slowly paced around the room. "Let's see. Alexandra Sanders. Beth Turner. The Turner woman I know. She's human. Investigative reporter, then later a investigator with Talbot's office, and more recently and importantly, Mick St. John's significant other."

"Alexandra Sanders may prove to be useful, Malcolm," stated David. "She is the founder and president of one of the largest and most successful corporate and private security firms on the West Coast. She's also been looking into the case, or someone from her company has."

Malcolm did not immediately reply. David noted he was still staring at the picture of the reporter which was enclosed in the folder. "Fascinated by her, Malcolm?"

"I was thinking about Kostan and our Miss Whitley upstairs." Malcolm closed the folder and handed it back to David, giving him a perplexed look. "She falls in love with Kostan. Somehow she captured the heart of a vampire, and she was not repulsed, disgusted, or even terrified. In fact, she wanted to be one."

He walks over to the foyer and the front door, watching the passersby and cars outside. "Sixty years later, the same thing happens with St. John and this Beth Turner. What is it with St. John that makes this woman so desirable?"

"Perhaps Coraline can answer that question," said David. "She's been around them all for a period of time."

A loud noise from a door underneath the staircase cut off Malcolm before he could reply. "Our nurse?"

"Lucas and Grayson will remain behind to make sure she's cared for until Los Angeles. But she's understandably … agitated."

Malcolm slowly nodded, still looking outside the door. "The doctor spoke out of turn by mentioning that her father is still alive. We will have to take her to see him first if we are to have any hope of securing her cooperation. I'll handle that. In the meantime, get your sister on the phone, and then get the car ready and a cab for him."

David began to comply, but stopped as he eyed his superior carefully. "Does all this remind you … of _her,_ Malcolm?"

Malcolm did not answer, his attention focused on outside. David nodded to himself and pulled his cell phone from a jacket pocket. Seconds later, he held the phone out to Malcolm.

"I'm not surprised that you're still there." Claudia's voice crackled through the phone's speaker. "What happened?"

Malcolm took the phone from David. "Nothing outrageous. Our experiment worked, but we now have to let her see her father. I didn't count on him still being alive. But what's done is done."

"Very well. What do you need?"

"I've gone over your file with David. I believe my in will need to be as a FBI agent looking into the deaths of those district attorneys."

Claudia paused before responding. "There's already one looking into the Talbot murder. Two separate agents looking into the same case is sure to raise some red flags and eyebrows."

"All I need is twenty-four hours. Have our man here get started on a package for me."

"Consider it done. Anything else?"

Malcolm glanced outside and saw a young couple walking past hand in hand. The man leaned in close and brushed his nose against the woman's ear, making her blush and playfully punch him in his chest. In response, the man picked the woman up at her waist and spun her in the air until their lips touched for a kiss.

The scene reminded him of a similar day long, long ago ...

 _He approached the garden with trepidation, knowing his cousin and the rest of the royal family had escaped under the cover of darkness, leaving Paris in a state of turmoil. Still, he hoped the woman who had caught his eye all those years ago had remained behind instead of following her master and mistress._

 _A soft cry expelled behind him, too low for the hearing of a human but easily noticeable for him. He spun around and saw the object of his search standing at the gate, the same brown basket hanging from her arm. Tears of joy streamed down her face at the sight of him._

 _He did not remember approaching her. Did not remember stopping. Only picking her up and holding her in the air like a prize won, then slowly sliding back down to the cobblestone surface to a kiss that he wished would never end …._

Claudia's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Malcolm?"

Malcolm shook his head to regain his focus and return to the present. He glanced outside the door, noting the couple had moved out of sight.

"Sorry, my dear. I was … distracted."

#

Standing in the hallway holding a covered dish, Ellis knocked on the bedroom door. "Miss Whitley, are you decent?"

Ellis gently pushed it and it opened fully as he entered. "I'm happy to say that all of your tests I was able to do came back negative. I would feel better if a full examination was conducted but -"

Ellis fell silent as Sarah turned to face him. She wore a simple navy blue skirt with a matching short sleeve buttoned down blouse. A white sweater rested on her shoulders.

She nervously smoothed out her skirt with her hands as she said, "I found something that I liked in the closet. I hope Mr. Rehnquist approves."

Ellis stood speechless for several seconds until he remembered the reason for his arrival. "My dear, only you can do the outfit justice. And in all the excitement, I didn't even think about you being hungry at all, so I went downstairs and fixed you a little something."

Sarah took the top off of the dish and peered inside. "I'm too nervous to do anything, but maybe it will help if I ate _something._ What do we have?"

"Some cheese, grapes, and a apple. Couldn't really be picky. I think there was just enough food for one person in the kitchen."

Sarah reached for a grape and rolled it between her fingers."Charles never really entertained anyone here due to what he is, so that's not surprising, regardless of what year it is."

Sarah took a few more grapes and plopped one in her mouth. Emitting a satisfied sigh, she turned back to the window to peer outside, while Ellis set the dish on a nearby table. "As I was saying, all of your tests came back negative. You are very healthy for someone who … "

Ellis fell silent. Sarah swallowed her fruit and glanced in his direction. "Is wide awake after sixty years? I may have a hard time believing it myself, but I also fell in love with a vampire. I'll get by."

Ellis shook his head and smiled. "You are an amazing woman, Miss Whitley."

"Sarah, Doctor, please. I appreciate your show of class, believe me. But while I may be over eighty, I still _feel_ and _look_ twenty-two."

She sat down in the chair she had occupied earlier and locked her eyes on the doctor. "I didn't want to bring this up until I had a chance to collect my thoughts and everything. What were you and Mr. Rehnquist discussing when you came into the bedroom earlier?"

Ellis hesitated at first, unsure of how to answer. "I took an oath to ensure the safety and survival of any patient under my care. The condition I found you in is one I cannot fathom seeing repeated, but I believe it's one Mr. Rehnquist will risk to achieve his goals."

Sarah raised a quizzical eyebrow. "You think he wants to turn me? Finish what Charles attempted to do?"

"That is my belief. I hope that isn't the case because I simply don't know if what happened to you years ago will repeat itself. I don't think _he_ knows. Otherwise, he wouldn't have called on me."

He sat down in the chair beside her. "From my understanding, you wanted to undergo the process. You knew what this Charles Fitzgerald - _Josef Kostan_ was about and yet … you wanted this. So the question is … will you undergo the process again?"

Sarah leaned back in her chair to consider the question. "I don't know," she conceded. "I would have to reconsider everything. And I want to speak with Charles. And also figure out if I'm being used or not by this Malcolm Rehnquist."

Before Ellis could reply, David stepped into the bedroom. "The car is waiting downstairs, Miss Whitley. And Doctor, I've taken the liberty of calling a cab for you. It will be along shortly."

Sarah rose and began to walk towards the door, but stopped and held out her hand to Ellis who took it in both of his. "Thank you for everything that you have done, Dr. Ellis. I will never forget this."

He watched her exit the room but continued to sit in silence for another minute before rising to his feet and moved to gather his things. Within another minute, his items were packed in his medical bag, including the bag containing the money Malcolm had given him earlier.

As he was putting on his jacket, Malcolm entered. "Doctor, I'd like to thank you for your work. You … you accomplished a miracle. Even I had my doubts."

Ellis shook Malcolm's outstretched hand. "Like I said, I like riddles. I'm just glad I was able to solve this one."

Malcolm smiled and turned for the door. Just as he stepped outside, he paused and glanced over his shoulder.

"One more thing, Doctor. I almost forgot." He turned around and held out his hand expectantly.

Ellis hesitated before slowly walking over to Malcolm. He extracted the cure compound from his jacket and placed it in his outstretched hand.

"Thank you, Doctor." He gave a salute with his right index finger, and was gone.

###


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

John Whitley awoke to a thunderstorm outside. He lowered his head and noted the time on his watch displaying a quarter before midnight. He had dozed off in his chair again, and no one on his house staff saw fit to wake him for bed.

He thought about using the call button to signal for the butler to come help him, but he found it was not wrapped around the arm of his chair in its usual location. Sighing, he looked around to see if his walker was close by.

The dim light by the bed only served to illuminate at a radius of only a few feet, placing the rest of the bedroom's interior under a darkened veil. Despite this, as well as his advanced age, his vision picked up his walking cane resting against the side table just out of reach. He sighed and looked around again for the call button.

"Father?"

The voice was so soft, like a whisper in a forest. A voice so foreign … and yet so familiar.

Lightning flashed outside, illuminating the room for a split second. Just enough to see her.

 _Her_.

She stepped out of the shadows by the door where it was darkest, a smile struggling to fight through the stream of tears running down her cheeks. She nervously wiped at them as she stopped a few feet short of his chair. "It's me."

Whitley stared at the woman before him in utter disbelief. He fought to speak, but his words failed him, his mouth opened and closed several times in silence.

 _It can't be,_ he thought. _It can't be my Sarah._

He looked over to the table past his cane at the black and white photo of his only child. His beautiful daughter. The source of his happiness for more than twenty years, followed by sixty years of mourning, grief, and anger.

That same source in the picture stood before him now.

His frail hands slowly stretched out to the woman, who took them and lowered herself at his feet while cradling their hands under her chin. She looked up at Whitley, laughing and crying simultaneously.

#

Sarah pulled the comforter over her father before sitting down in a chair by the bed. "It feels like I just left this place. It feels like I just kissed you and Mother goodbye after lunch and headed out for the day."

Whitley looked from behind his oxygen mask and smiled before letting it drop from his face. "I remember that day … like it was yesterday. I'm sorry, my dear, but it's a day I have tried to forget for six decades."

"Because you thought it was the day I died," she whispered. "You thought Charles killed me. He didn't, Father. Whatever happened that night, it - it didn't work."

Whitley reached for her hand. "Something must have worked, Sarah. You haven't aged at all."

She smiled. "Yes. Something did." She gave his hand a gentle squeeze as she looked down at her father. "But … that's all in the past now."

"No. No, it's not." The old man struggled to sit up in the bed but failed. Giving up, he pointed to the table where her picture rested. "Look in the drawer and bring me the folder that's inside, please."

Sarah rose and walked over to the table to retrieve the requested item. "What is it?"

"Your future. But I'll come back to it in a minute." Whitley took the folder and set it beside him on the bed. "I had no idea of what you were intending to do with Fitzgerald. I thought the worst. That he had you raped and left you to die in some alley in one of the burroughs, or left you so distraught that you were too embarrassed to return home. I didn't know what to think, but I knew my daughter was gone."

"Then your mother died over two years ago. My dear, we never had much family. With her passing, I felt so alone."

Sarah slowly took her seat again as Whitley continued. "I was going through some of her things a few weeks after the funeral. The first time I felt I was able to without completely breaking down. Even then, it was still difficult going through all of her papers, letters I wrote her when we were courting that she had kept all these years."

"Then I came across your diary."

Sarah sat up abruptly at the revelation. "My diary? How?"

"Your mother kept it hidden from me all these years. She knew that I would have gone to the ends of the earth to find Fitzgerald and have him killed. When I received information from someone that he was living in Los Angeles, I hired a former Army Ranger to do just that. He failed. Twice. Barely escaped to return here. I was then forced to reveal what Fitzgerald truly was. The man said he was going to use that knowledge to kill Fitzgerald once and for all. That was the last I saw of him."

Sarah sniffed and squeezed her father's hand again. "If I knew that everything would have pushed you to your breaking point, Father, I would have never done this."

Whitley pulled himself up a little in the bed. "A day later, I was visited by a man and woman. They said they were friends of Fitzgerald from Los Angeles. They were in search of him and feared he may have come to New York to exact some sort of revenge for attempting to have him killed. I told them what I knew and gave them your diary. I wanted them to understand that I didn't blame you. I wanted them to understand who you were, even if I didn't."

"Later that night, the young man returned. He told me that the man I hired followed him and his friend to where Fitzgerald was staying, and that he survived yet another attack. The young man also said the soldier would not be attacking Fitzgerald ever again."

He reached out and cupped Sarah's face with his hand. "But all of that paled in comparison when he told me that you were alive. Just as you are before me now, but in a coma like state."

"You said he was a friend of Charles. Who was he?"

"I researched him. His name is Mick St. John. He is a private investigator from Los Angeles. And I suspect, also a vampire like Fitzgerald."

Sarah fell silent at the news for a second, absorbing the news. "Why did he come back?"

###

 _Mr. Whitley, I came back here to tell you that I truly understand why you did what you did. You were scared that your only daughter was turned into a monster_ by _a monster. You thought she was dead. As a father, you have that right._

 _But you couldn't be more wrong. Because your daughter is alive._

 _No, I'm not going to tell you where she is. You can't help her in the state she's in now. And I'm not telling you where she is because in spite of everything, you_ did _almost killed my friend. Three times._

 _By the way, I wouldn't worry about trying to call that guy again. He tried three times. What's the saying? Three strikes and you're out?_

 _You can't help her because she's in a coma, Mr. Whitley. Has been for sixty years._

 _Josef and I have been friends for a very long time. He has always struck me as the type who … will never settle down with just one woman. In fact, he told me not long ago that a vampire mixing with a human would never work! So I'm probably just as surprised as you to find that Josef not only fell in love with a human, but also turned her._

 _I don't know what happened except what Josef told me. He drained her, and fed her his blood, but something bad happened. She never woke up. The transformation was never completed, but she looks the same as she does in the photograph on your table._

 _I only stopped here to tell you that your daughter is alive. You may be dead if and when she wakes up, but it gives you no reason to go after Josef anymore. He doesn't want to exact any revenge on you at all._

 _I also want you to know that he isn't a monster. He loved your daughter. For your daughter to love him in return, a vampire, I have to say that is incredible._

 _I say that because I think I'm in love with the woman who was here with me earlier today, and I wonder if she feels the same about me._

 _###_

Sarah leaned back in her chair, absorbing the story her father recounted for her. "He's a vampire? Why didn't he kill you for almost killing Charles?"

Whitley shrugged as he reached for the folder on the bed and held it out to her. "I don't know. It doesn't matter now. What does matter is that your birthright is secure."

Sarah tentatively took the manila folder and opened it. Inside were several pages' worth of legal documents, each already signed with John Whitley's signature. She looked at him for an explanation. "What is this?"

"I had my will originally set to where my fortune would be dispersed to several of your mother's favorite charities. That was before I found that you were alive." His voice steadily grew raspy to where Sarah had to lean in close in order to hear him clearly. "After St. John's visit, I had my attorney amend it to where a large percentage of my wealth is left to my only living relative; a young woman who was just recently found but her identity was never divulged until it became apparent of my increasingly limited time. My great-granddaughter, who is the splitting image of my beloved Sarah. So very alike, in fact, that she was given her name."

Sarah gave a sharp gasp as her wide eyes darted across the papers. "Father, I never knew you were worth _that_ much," she breathed.

"Wise investments, my dear." Whitley took the folder and placed it back on the bed beside him. "I can't take it with me, so I'm happy the fortune stays in the family."

Sarah gave her father a pained look. "Father, you said … your time was limited."

Whitley took a deep, ragged breath and began coughing uncontrollably. Sarah rubbed his forearm in a comforting gesture until the spell past. She reached over to the nightstand and poured some water from a pitcher into a small cup. With a straw canted over the rim, she held it for her father while he took several small pulls. "Better?"

He nodded. Once Sarah set the cup back on the nightstand, he stretched out his right hand for hers again. She offered it to him, and he held it against his chest.

His eyes bore into hers in silence, causing her to ask, "Father, what is it?"

"Every night before I go to sleep, I wonder if it would be the last time, so to wake up the next morning, it's another day. But the doctors have basically confirmed … my time is short."

Sarah's eyes began to well again with tears, causing Whitley to shake his head while patting her hand. "I do not want your tears, child. If any are shed, they should be by me. Whatever happens now, I can rest knowing I managed to see my daughter one last time"

He adjusted his head on his head to where he could see his daughter better. "I'm just happy that my daughter is amongst the living again. But … _how?"_

Sarah gave him the basic details of her awakening, leaving out Malcolm's role. "The whole thing in itself is nothing short of a miracle. But I lost so much time. With you. And Charles."

The disapproving frown was evident on John Whitley's face at the mention of the name. "So, you would go to him after all these years?"

She squeezed his hand and smiled. "Father, what was years to you has the sense of being only a day for me. I have to find him."

Whitley sighed audibly and gave her a short nod, returning the squeeze. "Very well, my dear," he said sleepily. "Even in your teenage years, you always conveyed an independence that made me so proud. I just hope that you find what you are looking for."

He glanced down at the foot of his bed and smiled. "Now, will you do an old man a favor and cover me with that blanket, please? No matter the time of year, I always find myself to be chilled to the bone at this time of the night."

Sarah complied with his request and covered her father with the thick blanket. He smiled and reached for her hand again as she pulled the edge close to his chest. "Will you sit with me while I sleep? Like I did for you when you were a child?"

"Of course I will." Still holding her father's hand, she reclaimed her seat and leaned against the edge of the bed. "I remember those nights very well I always felt safe when you were there."

Whitley pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it. "All I ever wanted to do was to keep you safe, Sarah." His voice fell to a whisper. "I only wish I did a better job."

With that comment, Whitley fell silent and his eyes closed as he fell into a deep slumber. Sarah remained motionless for a hour as she watched his chest move, silently wishing he was still awake so that they could talk.

But he continued to sleep, so she sat and watched him until her own eyes could no longer remain open. Until she could no longer hold her head up. She positioned her chair closer to the bed and laid her head down on her free arm, keeping her fingers intertwined with her father's.

#

She felt a large hand gently shake her shoulder. Her head slowly rose and turned to look up at Malcolm standing behind her, a grave expression on his face. "What time is it?"

"A few minutes before six." He straightened. "It's time to go. I've called David for the car. Our flight is ready to leave for Los Angeles."

Sarah nodded as she stretched her upper body. Noting her hand still intertwined with her father's, she shook it and started to rise from her seat. "Father, I'm getting ready to leave."

Her father did not move. Sarah finally felt the cold stiffness in his hand and the lack of color in his cheeks. She leaned close and spotted a thin, dried line of blood ran that trailed from a corner of his mouth to his chin. When she shook her father's hand again and received no response, she fell back into her chair.

Malcolm stared searchingly at the elderly man and pursed his lips. He stepped to Sarah's side and pressed two fingers against Whitley's neck for a minute before removing them and shook his head. "I'm sorry, my dear. He's gone."

To her credit, Sarah did not cry. "Give me a minute alone, please. I'd like to say goodbye."

"Take your time." He turned and made his way to the bedroom exit as Sarah gently extracted herself from her father's grasp and rose to her feet. She bent over and kissed him on his forehead.

"Goodbye, Father. And thank you."

She reached over for the folder by his body and gave him one last, mournful look before walking out of the bedroom.

 _#_

Malcolm flipped through the papers in the folder while seated in the limousine. "I made subtle contact with your father's attorneys weeks ago in the guise of a business partner of his," he said. "Everything is true. Provided there are no challenges to the will, you are now the new principal owner and president of Whitley Developmental Holdings, LLC."

Sarah did not answer, staring out of the window in silence. Malcolm placed the folder on the seat between them. "I also had a friend of mine set you up completely. Social security number, home address, credit cards, billing statements, everything to show that Sarah Whitley is simply the twenty-two-year-old legitimate heir to the Whitley fortune, granddaughter of his long lost daughter, and not his actual long lost daughter."

Malcolm glanced over at the woman who continued to stare listlessly out of her car window. He considered his next words carefully. "I've lost family. To live as an immortal and watch as those you know and love pass on, it's disheartening. I sometimes look at those who I consider as a part of my family now because I sired them, and though they carry my blood, they can never replace a mother. A father."

"But I look at you now, and I know you are are still coming to grips with everything that has happened. To awaken and find the world has changed so dramatically, and losing your father … I can't imagine what you're feeling right now, my dear."

Before he could continue, Sarah abruptly slapped her hands against her legs and turned her body in the seat to face him. "Mr. Rehnquist, I find myself in your debt for allowing me to spend time with my father before he died. I do sincerely appreciate it. But now I think it's time you tell me the reason you and Dr. Ellis went through all of this trouble to wake me. Because I don't think it was to reminisce about the old days with the last surviving member of my family."

Sarah's head faced forward and she sighed. "I don't want to be turned," she whispered.

Malcolm was not taken back at her announcement. He sat back and faced forward, rubbing his chin with his thumb as he said, "I had a feeling you would say that, my dear. And you know what? This is a thought you should have had in 1955."

Sarah scoffed at the remark. "Oh, thank you for that. It's only the one thing I've been thinking about since I woke up and found everything that was a part of my life was gone, my father near death, and the love of my life is on the other side of the country and is the focus of a quest for vengeance. Oh yes, I should have definitely had this conversation with myself decades ago."

It was Malcolm's turn to adjust in the seat to face her. "Sarah, the world of a vampire is like a never ending road; a road that isn't for everyone to travel. But I've witnessed you endure just as much in nearly a day as most … humans have endured in a lifetime. You have been wrongly cheated out of your life, but you have a chance to regain that, and more. You're days away from being named the youngest CEO of one of the most profitable real estate development companies in the country. You can give Donald Trump a run for his money."

"Who?"

"The thing is, you do not have to limit yourself to the world of Charles Fitzgerald, or Josef Kostan as he is known by now. You can do whatever you want to do, _be_ whoever you want to be. And I won't stand in your way."

He sat back in his seat. "I'll not use you to further my gains any longer. Tell me where you want to go and I'll take you there."

"Now wait." Sarah held up a hand to forestall further comment. "I don't want to be turned. I _do_ want to see Charles - _Josef,_ and soon. I said I owe you. If you hadn't did what you did, God only knows how long I would still be asleep."

She paused for a second before continuing. "But I think the last thing I need to do is rush to Charles … _Josef_ all out of sorts without time to gather my thoughts. And now there is the matter of my father. Thanks to your assistance, I'll be able to provide him a proper burial. I'm going to stay here. Just for a while, until my father's affairs are in order. Then I'll go to California."

Malcolm sighed. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a large capsule which he kept concealed in his left hand. When Sarah returned her attention to the outside of the vehicle, he set his hand down to the side and crushed the capsule. His vampire senses quickly picked up the faint but pungent odor as it quickly spread through the interior.

Sarah did not notice the smell, nor was aware of its intent. She rubbed her eyes several times before turning her head in Malcolm's direction. She tried to reach out to him with her left hand, but it barely lifted an inch before falling back to her thigh, and her head tilted forward into her chest.

 _#_

Malcolm frowned at the sight before him as he boarded the plane. Sitting at table in a seat closest to the exit door was a small, bespectacled man wearing tweed jacket and bowtie. An opened laptop rested on the table in front of him along with a locked deposit bag.

"Anthony. What are you doing here?" Malcolm claimed a seat facing the table on the other side of the aisle. "You do know my next stop is California, right?"

The man smiled nervously as he slid the bag closer to Malcolm. "I had time to fabricate credentials for you and your lady friend here, but the hack to set you up into the FBI database is taking longer than I anticipated. My computer expert is out of town, and I believe the FBI has set up new firewalls to prevent what I am attempting to do."

Malcolm reached for the bag and opened it to peer inside. He glanced at Anthony for a second before back into the bag. "Anthony, you have outdone yourself. This has to be your finest work," he announced, pulling out a billfold complete with a badge for the bureau. "Truly exceeds expectations."

"But it may be all for naught if I can't lock your information in the database," said Anthony. He slammed his balled fist on the table. "The most I can get you is … twenty-four, no more than forty-eight hours before the system is purged because the data did not follow their security protocol before being inputted."

"That's all I need, Anthony. I'll make it work with what you've already provided me." Malcolm rose to his feet. "Will you have it set up by the time we land?"

Anthony shrugged. "The only way I can guarantee that is if I do it enroute. Which is why I'm here."

"Then don't let me hold you up." Malcolm marched further into area into the jet where a row of seats sat across from a mini bar. Buckled into the window seat and covered by a blanket, Sarah rested in a peaceful state. David and Lucas sat in seats behind them.

"She will be out for at least seven hours, sir," said David. "That should give us time to fly to Los Angeles with time to spare."

Malcolm nodded and turned to settle into the empty seat beside Sarah. He looked over his shoulder at David and smiled.

"Next stop, California."

#

 _Los Angeles_

The elevator doors parted, allowing Malcolm to disembark onto the floor. He glanced down to the end of the short hallway where David stood waiting in front of a closed door. The vampire gave him a short nod and gestured for him to approach.

"I bypassed the security to the office. There is a passageway that leads to the apartment next door." David held out a cell phone. "It's empty."

Malcolm took the phone and nodded. "Is everything proceeding according to plan?"

"There is an issue. After your meeting with Alexandra Sanders, it seems she took a meeting with a FBI agent." He leaned in close and whispered, "A _legitimate_ FBI agent, I might add."

Malcolm smirked as he reached into his jacket and pulled out his falsified credentials. "Well, it was fun while it lasted," he said, flipping the billfold to David. "Keep up with what everyone is doing. I should only be a few minutes."

David nodded and walked down the passageway to the elevator as Malcolm opened the door and peered inside. Sarah laid on the couch in a peaceful slumber. A suitcase and a designer handbag sat nearby. "Your Charles will be notified of where you can be located shortly," he announced. "He knows the owner of this office very well."

He glanced to his left at the nameplate on the front of the open door.

Mick St. John

Private Investigator

He walked over to the couch to stand over it and Sarah. "I know I said I would no longer use you, but for Josef Kostan to know I am serious, I need him to know I am a man of my word. That in exchange for his compliance and cooperation, I would ensure that he will find you alive and unharmed, and surprisingly awake as a bonus. But it meant that despite your misgivings, I needed you here in Los Angeles. The debt you yourself said you owed me called for your presence here. Consider it paid in full."

He began to make his way to the door, but found himself instead lowering himself by the couch, close to Sarah's head. "I admit when … I first embarked on this endeavor, it was simply to further my goals. I have enemies. My family has enemies. As the head of my family, it's my duty to right the wrongs, whether committed against or _by_ my family. It's a never ending drama with suspense and twists and turns that will split your head open. A wrong was committed against my family decades ago when one of my own married someone from outside. As the head of my family, it is my duty to right that wrong."

He glanced over to the window where the sun shone the the brightest. "No one will wrong my family ever again."

 _Paris_

 _1842_

 _Alone, he walked under the arch down to the worn, stone path. Several men and women were gathered along the side, arms interlocked and heads bowed. Some sang. Some prayed. Some cried. Some remained silent._

 _But all were dressed in black._

 _He walked by the somber gathering, pausing only to offer a respectful greeting to one of the men who acknowledged him as he passed by. He continued down the path for another few minutes until he reached the split in the path that was described to him by the records keeper._

 _Neither the direction to the left or the right beckoned him. His attention was drawn to the center; a sculpture of an eagle perched on a pedestal, with its wings spread as it guarded the grave marker below it._

 _For decades he fought the urge to return to the capital city. The Reign of Terror was responsible for wiping out so many people, both human and vampire. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, their children, many of their supporters, long dead. They were barely an afterthought as he lowered his eyes to the picture etched on the marker. Curly tresses, lips parted just perfect._

Perfect. Just like the woman before him now.

"You look so much like my Cerise," he said as he moved a lock of her hair from her eyes. "You would have made a beautiful vampire. I hope we meet again someday."

He straightened and moved again for the door. This time he did not look back.

####

This brings "Awakenings" to a close, and as promised, the final chapter of the "Moonlight" saga is underway. Please "favorite author" me and you will be updated for the release of "Darkest of Days."

Goodfella73


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